


strange effect

by qrovers



Category: Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet (TV)
Genre: (i mean it's among us what do you expect), Among Us AU, Death, Fluff, Guns, Hurt/Comfort, Knives, M/M, Murder, imposter brad woohoo, in a way..a braddavid murder au, very minor racheldana too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:35:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27062782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/qrovers/pseuds/qrovers
Summary: Brad is an Imposter and David just happens to get on his good side.
Relationships: Brad Bakshi & David Brittlesbee, Brad Bakshi/David Brittlesbee
Comments: 7
Kudos: 38





	strange effect

**Author's Note:**

> dont take this too seriously yk...i made this for Fun woohoo! also it's kinda like the murderer braddavid fic im currently writing but a bit softer hehehe 
> 
> anyways i hope u enjoy :D

Game of 10 members.

There are 3 Imposters. 

One of them is Brad Bakshi. 

#

“I’m guessing we’ll form an alliance,” Brad says once he, Ian and Jo are alone in Admin. They pretend to swipe their cards while they keep their voices low. 

“I’m going to electrical,” Jo says, standing up to leave. She looks at them, stone cold and relentless. “If anyone asks, I was with you guys.”

They nod. 

After a few moments, Ian slides out his seat and plays with the wires to seem less suspicious, in case anyone decides to barge in.

“Who are you gonna kill first?” He asks.

Brad shrugs, runs through the list of crewmates. He picks the first name he remembers. “Maybe David? I don't know.”

The lights flicker red.  _ Oxygen Depletion _ .

Ian points to him. “Was that you?”

Brad shrugs as he slides off his seat. He plays on an act of hurriedly zipping through the cafeteria as Ian stays behind in Admin. He finds himself almost bumping into none other than—

“David!” 

“Oh, hey, Brad!” He gives him a smile as they enter O2. “This whole oxygen thing is stressing me out.”

“You don't say?”

He really didn't have to. His hands were shaking and his shoulders were squared up. He stood so rigidly and his eyes were so wild, Brad almost says sorry. 

But he doesn't. Instead, he says, “Yeah, me too.” And to relieve some tension, he adds, “The blinking red lights definitely aren't helping.”

It works, kinda. 

David giggles as he shakily enters the code on the keypad. It takes a few tries, with his fingers missing the keys on the first few, but when the lights aren't red anymore, he breathes out a sigh of relief.

“We did it!” He says, hands up in celebration, even though it was mostly him. 

But Brad won't willingly be suspicious, so he lies. “Yeah we did.”

“I’m proud of us!” David gives him a wobbly, but very much sincere smile, before wrapping his arms around him.

“Oh,” Brad says, trying to hide the disdain in his voice. “We’re hugging.”

“Ah, shit,” David lets go almost immediately. “Sorry, I should've asked you if you were okay with it.”

“I—”  _ What the fuck.  _ “I’m okay with it.”

And he's not so sure if that's a lie. 

David softens and goes to hug him again until—

**DEAD BODY REPORTED: Lou**

Reported by: Poppy Li. 

_ David:  _ Who died?!

_ Poppy:  _ Lou

_ Rachel:  _ that's fair

_ Ian:  _ Where?

_ David:  _ Where?

_ Poppy:  _ Electrical. I was gonna do my task. I’m pretty sure I saw Jo in Electrical. 

_ Jo: _ I wasn't? I was in Admin. 

_ Ian: _ yeah she was with me.

_ Brad _ : why would you accuse Jo anyway? 

_ CW:  _ sus

_ Brad:  _ sus

_ Poppy:  _ IT’S NOT ME i literally reported

_ Ian:  _ self reports exist

_ Poppy:  _ I didn't self report. Let's just skip and I’ll prove my innocence in the next round. 

#

No one was ejected. 

#

Brad stares as the garbage chute as it vomits out their waste. Poppy Li has proven her innocence. 

Dammit, now people will wonder why he accused her. 

“See?” She says, arms wide to prove her point. “Don't vote me out.”

Brad raises his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. Sorry.”

#

As Brad pretends to do his task in the reactor, he tries not to think too much about the fact that David's here too. 

_ What are the odds? _

“Hey,” David greets, with his usual chipper and overflow of anxious positivity. He fiddles with the keypad, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Brad knows that look, he wore it when he first tried the task. 

Hesitantly, he walks closer to David, whose hands are fidgeting behind him. Brad points at the screen as it plays a rhythm. “You just have to follow the sequence.”

David stays silent, processing what he said, and mimics the sequence on the keypad when it plays again. When it dings, he gives Brad a wide smile, one that makes his stomach bubble. 

_ What the fuck. _

They're standing so close to each other, Brad can hear his heart beat louder than it's ever done. David squints, tilts his head as he just stares, and stares. Brad smiles awkwardly and wonders what he's thinking. 

“You have sharp teeth.” 

“What?” Brad says, hands going to his lips. David laughs lightheartedly. 

Tongue coated in genuineness, he says, “It looks cute.”

And now an Imposter is blushing. 

They share a certain silence, a passing moment of blissful security, even if it's not earned. You see, when you're an Imposter, your whole job is to cause chaos, to disrupt, to kill. But in this small bubble they’ve created, built on the foundation David's unwavering smile, Brad feels calm. Brad feels safe. He hopes David feels the same. 

Even if he shouldn't. 

Brad frowns at the thought. David's eyebrows furrow. 

He asks, “What's wrong?” And, more quietly, “Did I say something?”

“No!” Brad responds immediately, hands up. “Nothing, I just remembered I have a task in...Security. Yeah, yeah, Security.”

“Oh,” he sounded disappointed. Brad tries not to think about the implications of that. He steps away hesitantly and gives an awkward wave as he goes to the other room. 

He steps through the doors and learns that he's alone, breathing a little lighter and slowly realizing he doesn't have anything to do here. So he checks the cams, for fun. 

Ian’s fucking with Poppy. 

Rachel and Dana are flirting with each other in the cafeteria. 

Jo is venting to…

Venting to…

The Reactor room.

_ David _ . 

Brad never ran to the exit that fast before.

However, the doors slam at his face before he could enter. His fist punches it even if he knows it won't do anything. His heart is in his throat and he wants to scream and let it out until he remembers. 

_ He can vent.  _

He runs to the corner of the room and falls down the hole. He navigates through the tunnels until he finds the Reactor. There's only so much you can see through the cover, but he can see Jo sweet talking and acting innocent, all the while holding a knife behind her back. 

Brad whimpers at the sight and his heart almost breaks when David turns back at Jo. She stands behind him, her grip on the knife tightening with excitement. Brad’s heart starts pounding, he feels his teeth baring in anger. 

When you're an Imposter, your whole job is to cause chaos, to disrupt.

To kill. 

Then he decides. 

**DEAD BODY REPORTED: Jo**

Reported by: David

_ Ian:  _ what the hell

_ Poppy:  _ oh shit

_ Rachel: _ Where?

_ Dana:  _ Who?

_ David _ : i found jo’s body while doing a task. i didn't see who did it :(

_ Poppy:  _ ...brad sus

_ Ian:  _ agreed

_ Brad:  _ it wasn't me

_ David:  _ yeah it wasn't him!! he was with me in reactor and he never did anything

_ Ian:  _ huh

_ David:  _ you don't believe me?

_ Ian:  _ no, don't worry. i do. 

#

No one was ejected. 

#

“What the hell, Brad?” Ian asks once the group disperses. He says it in hushed tones, since Rachel (surprisingly without Dana) is in the lower engine with them. 

Rachel sighs absentmindedly, “I miss Dana.”

“What?” Brad acts innocent, looking at Ian like he doesn't know what he's talking about.

“Don’t ‘what’ me. What happened to the alliance?”

“I guess…” Brad pauses, taking a deep breath. “I guess it's over now.”

Ian looks at him for a second. Then he gives him a smile, one that doesn't reach his eyes. He nods slowly as he processes the information. He laughs without humor. “You're gonna regret that, Bakshi.”

He leaves the room without another word. Brad's heart drops. 

#

“Uh,” David looks at Brad, confused. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” he answers. “Why do you ask?”

He says this as if he isn't standing right next to him, hands locked together and surveying the room every 5 seconds to make sure Ian hasn't entered to assassinate him yet. Just a precaution. 

(He tries to ignore how hot his hands become and how hyper-aware he suddenly is of his movements.)

“Nothing.” David looks at him and smiles softly, kindly, genuinely. “This is nice.”

Brad smiles back, careful not to show his teeth. “It is.”

“You don't have to hide your teeth. I told you, they're cute.”

_ I know.  _ “You did?”

“Oh come on. Your smile is nice.”

“Thank you.”

Slowly, the lights started to fade until it was pitch black. Brad feels David squeeze his hand for reassurance. He squeezes back, smiling a little wider. 

He says, as if it wasn't obvious. “Someone sabotaged the lights.”

“That they did.”

“We should probably help the others out at Electrical.” David tugs on Brad's hand as he walks forward. “Come on.”

#

Electrical is a physicalized nightmare for regular crewmates. Brad knows this because this is the perfect place to kill: wall dividers, being able to close the doors, an easy-to-go to vent. It's amazing, speaking as an imposter. 

So he's basically terrified for David. 

They're still holding hands when they enter, seeing both Rachel and Dana huddled at the switches. They join them and try to help, or at least David does. Brad stays on look out, squinting at the dark room. 

He almost didn't see Ian next to David until a few moments later, when his eyes finally adjusted. He gasps, hands going to a knife taped under his shirt, but has no idea how to defend David without exposing himself to him. Ian puts his index finger to his lips in a  _ shush _ signal. 

Then, he murders Dana.

And the lights turn on again as he vents away. Slowly, Brad realizes. His stomach curdles at the thought of Ian’s plan unfolding. He wasn’t trying to  _ kill _ David, he was trying to make everyone else think he was the traitor.

David turns and sees the corpse on the ground and gasps. Before Brad could stop him, he reports the body. 

**DEAD BODY REPORTED: Rachel**

Reported by: David

_ Rachel:  _ DANA???

_ Poppy:  _ Oh my god what. I was in the cafeteria what happened 

_ Rachel:  _ David's the imposter. he has to be

_ Ian:  _ i agree with rachel. david's pretty sus. he reported the last body too

_ Poppy:  _ so we're voting David then?

_ Rachel:  _ YES

_ Brad:  _ david's not the imposter.

_ Poppy:  _ what makes you so sure?

_ Brad:  _ …

_ Brad:  _ i think it was rachel

_ Rachel:  _ ME????? I WOULD NEVER KILL DANA.

_ Brad:  _ which would make you the least suspicious person. which, in itself, is sus

_ Ian:  _ i saw david vent

_ Brad:  _ no the fuck you didn't? you think his fat ass can fit through those??

_ Poppy:  _ he has a point. at the first one anyways

_ Rachel _ : UHH????

#

Rachel was not an Imposter. 

#

The last four people of the ship, namely Brad, David, Ian, and Poppy, all agree to stay together in order to smoke out the imposter. Brad felt calmer that way, because he can keep an eye on David and stay close to him without arousing much suspicion from Poppy. 

However, while they stayed at the Med Bay while she did her scan, Brad realized his mistake. 

You see, Ian saw his frame job fail. Now, the only other way to eliminate David is to murder him. 

The only way for Brad to stop him is to kill him first, in front of Poppy and, more painfully, in front of David. 

He shakes, slightly, at the thought. At the thought of David hating him, seeing him for who he really is, a murderer. A monster. 

But Brad glances at him right now and his breath stills because he's looking back. David looks at him with such adoration and doting, Brad feels his eyes start to get glassy. How can someone look at him like that?

How can someone look at him so  _ lovingly _ ?

“Hi, David.” Ian approaches, not even trying to hide the gun in his hand. 

“Ian?” David tears his eyes away from Brad and looks at Ian. His love turned to fear. Brad's blood started boiling. 

“Ian,” Brad threatens, venom coated around his tongue, his words. There's a part in him that's growing bigger by the second, that tells him it's better to get ejected than to see David die. He bares his teeth, anger rising to his chest. 

Ian ignores his warning and charges at David. But Brad pushes him away and pries the gun out of his grip, tackling him down. Poppy’s finished with her task already, but he no longer cares for anything other than protecting David. He curls his fingers around Ian’s throat, watching him gasp and thrash below him. 

Until he stops and goes limp.

Brad exhales, exhilarated. He looks at his hands and flexes them, at their strength, at their power. 

Then he realizes what he just did, and who he did it in front of. 

He turns back to David, eyes already filling with tears, hands shaking in fear. He tries to say something but gets the words stuck in his throat. 

David’s emotionless, which is more unnerving than it's supposed to be. He’s always emotional, smiling or frowning or giggling or crying. He doesn't stand still, face stoic. Brad wants to know what he's thinking. 

(What he thinks of  _ him. _ )

“Dav—”

**DEAD BODY REPORTED: Ian**

Reported by: David

_ Poppy:  _ so we all know who did it right?

_ Poppy has voted. _

_ David:  _ yeah we do. we saw. 

_ David has voted. _

#

Poppy was not an Imposter.

#

As Brad and David watch the stars out the window of the spaceship, Brad feels dizzy. He didn't expect to still be alive.

He asks, “Why didn't you vote for me?”

David doesn't tear his gaze away from the sky, eyes twinkling at the sight, soaking it in like he hasn't seen it a thousand times before. He says, fond like a secret, “I like your smile.”

A pause. 

And he adds, “I like  _ you _ .”

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> follow me @trobedcore


End file.
